Due to the grade of the Hancock spur and pocket track as they decend from the mainline, I had to create a braking system to allow cars to be tied down on these tracks as they are on the prototype. What I ended up using was a piece of piano wire attached to the end of a wood dowel that extends through the front fascia of the layout. The wire passes up through the roadbed at an angle, so when the control rod dowel is pressed in, the wire projects upward.

I drilled the hole through the roadbed large enough that the piano wire would fall back into the hole when not held in the engaged position, bending the tip of the wire to prevent it from falling all the way through the hole. In order to engage the brake, the operator has to press the activation rod until the weight of the cars against the extended piano wire will hold it in place. Once the cars are pulled away from the wire, gravity causes it to fall back in the hole, disengaging the brake automatically.

I liked this approach since it saves crews from having to remember to disengage the brake and potentially derailing on it later.
By: Joe Atkinson

This view shows the piano wire brake in its retracted position. My hope is that the wire will be very difficult to see once it's painted.
By: Joe Atkinson